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Accessible Fonts
Writing Tip Wednesdays March 25, 2026
Accessible Fonts
Typography choices have a huge impact on accessibility. According to Section 508 guidelines, “An accessible font means using a typeface designed for easy reading by a diverse audience, including individuals with visual impairments such as low vision or reading disability such as dyslexia. Accessible typography ensures that textual information is accessible to all users, irrespective of their abilities or disabilities.”
Section 508 doesn’t recommend specific typefaces or minimum font sizes. But government websites need to have clear and consistent headings and highly legible text. There are two basic categories of typeface: Serif and sans serif.
| Serif | Sans Serif |
|---|---|
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Most print publications use serif typefaces, which are slightly easier to read for people with good vision. But serifs actually decrease readability for people with low vision, who have to zoom in and out a lot, especially on mobile screens.
Today, most people get their information online, not in print. So, organizations are transitioning to sans serif. All the ADA-compliant fonts are sans serif. Microsoft replaced Times New Roman (serif) with Calibri (sans serif) in 2007, then made Aptos its default font in 2024. The new CDC Templates use Roboto for headings and titles and Nunito Sans for body copy and subheadings, both of which we’re using in this article. (See the CDC Typography page for more details and to download Roboto and Nunito Sans if they’re not already installed on your laptop.)
The individual letters in these new fonts are easier for everyone to read. For example, the uppercase for the letter “I” and the lowercase for the letter “L” are both straight lines in Calibri. Aptos, Roboto, and Nunito Sans distinguish the “l” with a little curve.
So, there are lots of options. If you can’t stand the “new” fonts, you don’t have to use them. Stick with Calibri, Arial, or another ADA-compliant typeface. But try to avoid serif fonts—they’re OK for headings, but sans serif is best for body copy. Pick one font per document and be consistent!